For most of the ongoing Paris Fashion Week, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have been a trending topic—not so much because of their new collection for The Row, which they presented at a fashion show last week, but because of their no-social-media policy at that show. Guests were asked to “refrain from capturing or sharing any content during your experience”, which is why there were no photos or videos of The Row’s Winter 2024 collection shared on platforms like Instagram, Twitter, TikTok for fashion fans to look at, zoom into, dissect and discuss. Until now.
Almost a week after their fashion show, the Olsen twins have published photos of their collection shot by British photographer Jamie Hawkesworth. Unlike the lookbooks for The Row’s Spring 2024 and Fall 2024 collections, these new images exude warmth, intimacy and emotion, with their subjects often bathed in sunlight. More tellingly, models are captured in moments of solitude and contemplation. One wonders what’s on the mind of Liu Wen, who stands upright in a white gown adorned with feathers, her eyes trained on something we can’t see. Mariacarla Boscono, wrapped in a yellow cashmere coat, looks out a window as well, but seemingly full of purpose. Mica Argañaraz, wearing a grand grey coat, tilts her head as though in a daydream. One of her sneakers is left unworn, forgotten. Another model, with all the mystery of a film noir star, casts her eyes downwards, towards her black knit dress and elegant leather pumps. Inevitably, we follow her gaze.
Other models are caught mid-gesture. Julia Nobis, standing tall in a black coat with a mandarin collar and a pair of harem pants, reaches towards the abacus-like screen in front of her. A smiling Malgosia Bela, looking chic in a cashmere jumper, appears to wave with her Margaux bag in hand. One model idly touches her golden bracelet. Its texture stands out as much as that of her black pleated skirt, which has echoes of the vintage Issey Miyake dress that Mary-Kate wore to the 2013 CFDA Fashion Awards.
Indeed, textures were a key element of The Row’s latest collection. While their recent collections have featured smooth, minimalist pieces and sharp tailoring, the Olsen twins imbued their new designs with character and softness through an array of inviting textures. Look 9 was lush with them, featuring a furry white robe held together with a wool scarf that ended in thick fringes and red tassels. And, just in case celebrities like Greta Lee needed more sophisticated options for the red carpet, there were plenty of simple but striking dresses to choose from in the collection. Kristen McMenamy’s brown dress bore the intriguing creases of corrugated cardboard. There was a stately air to the off-shoulder column gown in black wool of Look 29. By contrast, the sheer knit dress in Look 12, with its fringed sleeves and hem, boasted a bohemian spirit—something that the Olsen twins championed in the early 2000s, and which designer Chemena Kamali is now reviving at Chloé.
Like Kamali, the Olsen twins understand the power of setting the mood. When they brought their Spring 2016 fashion show to the Château de Courances near Paris, instead of showing at New York Fashion Week as they had previously done, they aimed to create the perfect experience. Models paraded easy, elegant styles out in a sunlit garden courtyard. At that fashion show, as with The Row’s recent one, the Olsens enforced a no-media rule. They only shared their brand’s in-house images of the collection later, “delaying illustrated coverage, Instagram not withstanding, of the clothes by more than 24 hours,” reported WWD.
At the time, Ashley Olsen explained her and her sister’s surprise decision to show in Paris to The New York Times: “For us, it’s much more about the experience than what city you’re in. Because the experience is what the client has when she’s wearing and buying clothes. So the experience is what we want to give people.”
Experience was again emphasised at The Row’s Winter 2024 presentation last week, namely through their controversial no-social-media policy. Some online fashion commentators have suggested that it only affirms the brand’s positioning in the quiet luxury space, alongside the likes of older brands like Loro Piana and Brunello Cucinelli. Rian Phin, who goes by @thatadult on Instagram, wrote on Threads, “[The Row’s] priority is enforcing these rules of exclusivity and elitism to uphold what they believe to be the brand’s identity.”
The Row’s so-called “phone ban” can also be seen as a strategic marketing move, which the fashion brand is known for (remember Kendall Jenner’s “The Row head to toe” moment on Instagram?). With their latest policy, The Row has inevitably made headlines all throughout Paris Fashion Week—even before most people had actually seen the collection.
But if the policy were a marketing move, it didn’t work on The Row’s international customers outside of the West. For example, in China, where The Row opened their first store last year, there was little buzz about the collection. Jing Daily reported, “On China’s Gen Z-dominated answer to Instagram, Xiaohongshu, #therow2024 only has 852 views at the time of writing, despite #therow having 135.4 million reads. On Weibo, where #therow has 1.9 million reads, there are significantly more posts about the Pre-Fall 2024 collection, showcased in September, than there are about the latest no-phone event.”
So maybe The Row’s no-social-media policy is not really about branding, or marketing, or elitism or luxury. Maybe it’s rooted in something simpler. Rachel Tashjian of The Washington Post, who attended the fashion show, wrote on X, “I think everyone’s freaking out too much about the no phones rule at The Row. Seems that they just wanted us all to live in the moment and enjoy the show.”
Live in the moment: that did seem to be the message of The Row’s Winter 2024 collection images. Especially with its cast of women not merely posing but engaging with the present: thinking, looking, moving, feeling. It’s the message that shines in the clothes that they wear, with all their tactile and emotional qualities. These are clothes that root you in reality, clothes that are meant to be touched, experienced, lived in and loved. As the Olsen twins remind us this season, such experiences are what every luxury fashion brand should strive to offer its customers. They’re certainly more rewarding than any fleeting fantasy or viral fashion show moment streamed on your phone.
